SIDNEY — “Sidney 1820 Export” has been selected by the Sidney Bicentennial Beer Subcommittee as the name of the special beer being created as part of the Sidney Bicentennial celebration.
“The winning entry was submitted by Nick Wolters. Wolters and his wife, the former Cara Schroeder, recently relocated to Sidney,” Shelby County Commissioner and Bicentennial Beer Subcommittee Chair Tony Bornhorst said.
When Sidney Bicentennial Beer Subcommittee members met last Thursday afternoon, Jan. 23, to select the winning entry for the name of the beer being brewed for Sidney’s Bicentennial, they adjourned without selecting a winner, the press release said.
“We had three names that were favorites,” Bornhorst said. “We decided that we’d give our thoughts a few days to ‘brew’ and then see if we had greater clarity with the passage of time. That process actually worked!”
“The process was even more difficult than it was when we selected the name for Shelby County’s Bicentennial beer,” Bornhorst said. “We once again had a lot of great entries. Some of those that made the final cut included ‘Herz von Ohio,’ ‘Sidney Hundertstel 2,’ ‘Hits The Spot,’ ‘Big Four Pour,’ ‘Imagine 1820 Sidney Limited,’ ‘Sidney MMXX,’ ‘Gateway ‘20,’ and ‘Sidney’s Serenade.’”
Upon learning the news, Wolters said, “When the mayor called me and I learned that the name I had submitted for Sidney’s Bicentennial beer had been selected, I was both surprised and excited. My good fortune must have something to do with the water in Mercer County. Ironically, I hardly ever drink beer.”
Wolters graduated from Marion Local High School in 2008. He obtained a degree in pharmacy from Ohio Northern University and is employed at Grandview Hospital in Dayton.
“The contest was open to anyone currently residing or employed in Sidney as well as those born in Sidney,” Bornhorst noted. “While many of our entries were from Shelby County residents, we had entries from across Ohio.”
“We plan to make a formal presentation to the winner, but can only do that after the first batch of beer has been brewed,” Bornhorst said. “The winner will receive a check in the amount of $250 and the first case of the beer produced.”
“Creative Marketing Strategies President Mary Beth Monnier will be helping design the labels for the cans, and we expect that design work to be completed soon. Once that work is finished and approved, all we have left to do is allow Nick, his team and Mother Nature to do the rest of the work,” Bornhorst said.
“I can’t say enough about what a great experience it has been to have the opportunity to continue to work with Nick (Moeller),” Bornhorst said. “He had indicated that he would like the beer to be an export. Exports are a type of lager. The Shelby County Bicentennial beer was a pilsner. Pilsner is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Czech city of Plzeň, where it was first produced in 1842.”
“We are excited and honored to help create ‘Sidney 1820 Export’ – Sidney’s Bicentennial beer. When I learned that Sidney’s former brewery (The John Wagner and Sons Brewing Company) produced an export, I knew that it was something that I wanted to try to do,” Nick Moeller said.
“Just as ‘pilsners’ originated in Plzeň, ‘exports’ originated in Dortmund, Germany,” Moeller noted. “Exports were the indigenous pale lagerbiers first produced there. They tend to use a bit more German noble hops to help balance the bigger maltiness and higher alcohol content than the Pilsen lagers.”
“It’s been exciting to join Sidney’s leaders in producing a new product,” Moeller continued. “We’ve taken what we know about brewing German lagers and are brewing an export lager. With earthy hops, it will be a bigger bodied beer but still have a crisp, clean finish. Once we finalized the recipe, we were ready for the easy part — making the beer! In fact, Mother Nature is already at work, and we expect the first batch to be ready by mid-February, in time to be served at Shelby County’s Bicentennial Ball on Feb. 22.”
The beer is expected to have a limited production run, and will only be produced for consumption during Sidney’s Bicentennial. It will be available for purchase locally and at special events during the year, including the Shelby County Fair and community celebrations such as the Botkins Carousel, the Anna Homecoming, and Jackson Center Community Days.
For a limited time, “Sidney 1820 Export” will join Moeller Brew Barn’s other products. Those beers include Dirt Track Kolsch, Frogtown IPA, Wally Post Red, Honeywagon IPA, Blackberry Prairie Wheat, and Baked Oatmeal Stout.
